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With Mike Wallace in Mike Tomlin's doghouse, Antonio Brown is the Steelers' go-to guy at receiver.

PITTSBURGH – It’s unlikely the Steelers will have their franchise quarterback Sunday in Baltimore. They will have their reigning Most Valuable Player though.

With Ben Roethlisberger still rehabbing his shoulder and rib injuries, Charlie Batch expects to make his second straight start. Considering how poorly Batch played last week in Cleveland, that must be a sobering thought for the slumping Steelers (6-5).

On the bright side, however, wide receiver Antonio Brown will start after missing three games with a high ankle sprain.

The Steelers’ 2011 team MVP hopes to inject life into a stagnant offense that scored just one touchdowns in each of the past three games. In back-to-back losses to the Ravens and Browns, in which Roethlisberger and Brown both sat out, the Steelers failed to score a touchdown pass.

“I don’t know, that’s not my place to say,” Brown said when asked how much the Steelers missed his play-making abilities. “My place is to be there when my teammates need me, and I’m looking forward to giving us a spark.”

Brown’s return comes at a time when the Steelers have problems galore on offense.

* Their star QB is hurt.

* There’s chaos at running back where first-stringer Rashard Mendenhall has been demoted for his sloppy performance Sunday in Cleveland where the Steelers committed eight turnovers.

* Injuries are mounting on the offensive line.

* At wide receiver, it appears that underachieving Mike Wallace has lost his starting job to Emmanuel Sanders.

“No question. It’s always hard when you’re watching your teammates in battle, and you’re not out there helping them,” Brown said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve never experienced back-to-back losses before. And to lose two in a row to division opponents, it’s disgusting. That’s something we don’t stand for around here.

“So we plan on getting things back to normal. I’m thankful I’ll be out there this week.”

Even though he hasn’t played since the first half of the Nov. 4 win over the Giants, Brown is still third on the team with 42 catches and 499 receiving yards. He trails tight end Heath Miller (51/516) and Wallace (47/572).

Even though the Ravens (9-2) expect to see Batch at QB again, coach John Harbaugh believes that Brown can be the X factor when these two AFC North rivals meet Sunday.

“He’s a playmaker,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a guy that can score from any part of the field, offensively or special teams-wise. He’s got tremendous quickness, speed, body control and hands.

“He’s a guy that we’ve really thought the world of, ever since he was coming out (of college), and we were going through the process of getting to know him coming out of Central Michigan. He’s just a stellar-type of guy and we’ll definitely have to have an eye on him.”

In the 2010 draft, the Steelers picked Brown in the sixth round. Also part of that draft class was Sanders, a third-round pick.

So far in their careers, Brown has been more productive. He has 127 career catches for 1,774 yards and three TDs. He also earned Pro Bowl honors last year as a kick return specialist. Sanders has 84 career catches for 1,153 yards and five TDs.

But on Sunday, it looks like Brown and Sanders will both be in the starting lineup for the first time. And they could remain starters for years to come.

“Emmanuel is doing really well,” Brown said. “He’s seizing his opportunity. When you’re presented with opportunities, you need to take advantage of them.”

Brown can be a big difference maker. The offense was hitting it's stride before he got hurt. He allows Batch the threat of the prototype west coast receiver that this O needs. He can create space with or without the threat of the deep ball. Most importantly, our top three are Brown, Wallace, and Sanders, not Wallace, Sanders, and either Burress or Gilreath.

Agreed. Still amazed that some discount Brown's effect on this offense. He is the one WR that can beat double teams. Add in Plax and the passing O could be a tad better. Plus the Browns secondary is actually better than the Ravens, so that should help as well.

Steelers expect Polamalu to have “significant role” this week
Posted by Darin Gantt on November 30, 2012, 11:20 AM EST

As important as getting Ben Roethlisberger back at some point will be, the Steelers have also missed safety Troy Polamalu considerably.

And while they’re not sure he’s going to be full strength, there are signs they’ll get Polamalu back in some fashion this week.

He practiced fully on Wednesday and Thursday, the first time he’s done so since aggravating a calf injury on Oct. 7.

“I don’t think he will be able to be out there every snap, but he is going to be able to take a significant role,” Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said, via Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He has been idle for a good while. … He is in good shape. His aerobic conditioning is good, but I think his football conditioning needs some development.”

Anything they can get out of him will be good, as his leadership on defense has been missed as much as Roethlisberger’s on offense.

Polamalu said he was “very excited” to be back in practice this week, and hasn’t enjoyed having to watch.

“There’s a reason why the Steelers don’t have cheerleaders,” Polamalu said. “I’m not on the sidelines cheering. I’m a football player.”

I wonder if Tomlin is dressing Troy as an emotional lift/mindgame for the team?

Or maybe it's a mindgame aimed at Joe Flacco, since Troy did get him for a pick 6 to clinch the AFC Championship Game that sent the Ravens home and sent the Steelers (plus RuthlessBurgher and RuthlessBrother) to Tampa to face the Cardinals in SBXLIII.